I haven’t written much about my health, or the incredible amount of time I have spent in the past few years figuring out why I just don’t feel well most of the time.

Fibromyalgia, food allergies, environmental allergies, asthma, bronchitis, various intolerances, etc. – It doesn’t matter what the name is, I will do anything at this point to be healthy and alert enough to enjoy my life, family, and friends and be able write every day.

After spending most of the last week with a wicked headache and generally feeling bad, I went to the doctor expecting to be told I had the flu or some infection. As with most of my visits, there is “nothing” wrong.  We decided that it is time to be lactose free. No dairy products, not a big deal really because I get sick almost immediately after eating anything with dairy now.  We also discussed being wheat free/gluten free eventually, cutting down on coffee to see if that helps, and a variety of other things along that line.

Rob and I decided last night to change our menu at home to shop and cook differently and start cutting out both lactose and gluten. I want to have a change now.  Coffee, I can easily cut back to a cup in the morning and drink tea when I want something hot to drink during the day. I don’t have a negative reaction to coffee, but I have been having trouble sleeping, so I see this as a smart move. It may change later.

As I finished talking about cutting down on coffee, our mail was delivered and there was a package from my friend Meg in Oregon. She sent me some great teas and a card for my birthday. Not only did it make me smile to get such a thoughtful gift, it was as if I had an instant reinforcement of my decision to drink tea instead of coffee. Sometimes life’s gifts need to be really clear for me to see them!

Rob and I also went out for lunch at The Boynton and after staring at the menu forever, I was going to get a salad with grilled chicken, but Rob said, “Why don’t we each get a salad and split the order of ribs?” Brilliant idea! It made what seems to be a whole menu of “no” into something fun. It was a delicious lunch, and before we came home I bought a canister of ginger and licorice tea at the Wine Vine. This will travel easily and I can have something refreshing in the afternoon at work.

Looking back at past posts, I realized I have never written about gardening to fulfill my desire to have a greater local access to foods that I can eat without feeling sick. Last summer it was so amazing to walk outside and have beauty and food right in our yard, and it changed me emotionally and physically to have that access. Until that time, I hadn’t realized exactly how much I personally, need to work outside in nature and grow food and plants.

I am choosing to look at this time of changes as an adventure. I will be healthy and won’t be feeling sick all the time. That’s the goal, so the path has to line up with that goal. This process is not impossible, but it does require a good amount of research, time and effort.

Most of us have something like this in our lives – it takes a bit more work to figure out and more effort to work through, but in the end these efforts are the bigger things that change the direction and add to the quality of our lives.